


And so say all of us

by clottedcreamfudge



Series: Tooth-rotting Malec nonsense [7]
Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Human, Birthday, Birthday Fluff, Birthday Party, Clary Fray & Alec Lightwood Friendship, Drinking, Drinking Games, First Kiss, Fluff, Getting Together, Hugs, Isabelle Lightwood Ships Magnus Bane/Alec Lightwood, Kissing, M/M, Maia is a boss okay, Mistletoe, Nonsense, Party, Scrabble, Seasonally inappropriate mistletoe is seasonally inappropriate, Siblings, Supportive Isabelle Lightwood, Supportive Jace Wayland, Tequila
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-22
Updated: 2021-02-22
Packaged: 2021-03-12 08:02:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,030
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29631558
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/clottedcreamfudge/pseuds/clottedcreamfudge
Summary: “Come on, you guys want each other like Scully and Mulder,” she says haughtily, mirroring his crossed arms and raising her eyebrows. “I wasn’t sure before last night but… Alec. Seriously.Damn. The tension almost suffocated literally everyone here.”“Stop talking soloudly,” he hisses, eyes darting over to where Magnus still appears to be sleeping peacefully. “Also, it’s September - you know that, right?”“Mistletoe is timeless,” Izzy says firmly.“It isnot-”➼It's Alec's birthday, and he doesn't think Izzy's thought through the ethics of trying to give hima person.
Relationships: Magnus Bane/Alec Lightwood, Minor or Background Relationship(s)
Series: Tooth-rotting Malec nonsense [7]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2170269
Comments: 47
Kudos: 230





	And so say all of us

“It’s almost like you didn’t hear me telling you not to throw me a birthday party,” Alec yells into Izzy’s ear, attempting somewhat pointlessly to be heard over the thumping bass currently vibrating through his apartment. “But you definitely did, because you said ‘sure, Alec, no parties, I get it,’ and then you stole the last of my fries.” Izzy rolls her eyes and keeps grinning like she’s not both a liar and a _demon_ , before shoving a cup of something alcoholic into his hand.

“Oh, come on - it’s just a little party!” Izzy’s definition of a little party wouldn’t usually be the same as _Alec’s_ definition of a little party, but he has to admit that she seems to have toned herself down for this. He doesn’t see anyone he doesn’t recognise or like, for one, which isn’t necessarily something Izzy would usually take into consideration.

Mainly because throwing parties for him is her way of trying to get him laid.

“What about my neighbours?” he asks, changing tack. “We’re going to be bothering everyone in the building.”

“I went round the place last week and gave everyone a bottle of wine - told them we’d be making some noise for my dumb big brother’s twenty-fifth birthday bash-”

“I’m twenty-six,” he interrupts, but she carries on like she hasn’t heard him.

“And I apologised in advance for any inconvenience. Ms Novak in Apartment 3B asked if you were single, by the way.” Alec groans and rubs a hand over his face. “Don’t worry, I told her you were gay,” Izzy continues, like _that’s_ the problem here, and not the fact that Ms Novak is literally eighty-three years old.

“Izzy-”

“Oh look, Magnus just arrived!” And fuck, Alec really wishes that didn’t immediately work on him, but he turns towards the front door anyway because he’s a _total sucker_. Magnus has indeed arrived, which is great, but also terrible - because Alec is horribly in love with him, and he loses the ability to speak the second Magnus enters a room.

It’s very embarrassing.

Magnus is some kind of designer; he definitely told Alec _what_ kind once, but he’d been wearing a new tunic that day, something shimmery and turquoise that showed off his collar bones, and Alec had barely been able to ‘hm’ and nod at the appropriate points in their conversation because of it. He comes to the library where Alec works as a Research Librarian at least twice a week, ostensibly for inspiration, but more commonly to argue with Alec about films he’s never seen and drive him to distraction. He doesn’t know how they got each other’s numbers, but they did, which is the only reason Alec can think of that Magnus would know to be here; Izzy had clearly stolen Alec’s phone at some point. He needs to change his password. Again.

“Izzy,” he hisses, before Magnus catches his eye and smiles in a way that makes Alec’s stomach do somersaults. He smiles weakly back, then downs his drink without tasting it and shoves the cup back into his sister’s hand. “I’m going to _murder_ you.”

“You say this every year,” she muses, then turns away with a bright smile and struts off to, presumably, meddle in someone _else’s_ life for a while.

He makes his way over to Magnus because it’s polite, and also because gravity has nothing on this man when it comes to drawing Alec in.

“Hey,” he says when he gets there, voice raised above the music. Magnus smiles widely at him and Alec suddenly finds himself being pulled into a hug, which - 

What the _fuck_.

He hugs back on instinct more than anything, enjoying the feel of Magnus’s body pressed against his _way_ more than is appropriate, and wondering vaguely if this is a dream. It’s absurd enough to be one; his apartment is full of people drinking, a guy he knows from the library is here, and said guy is plastered against Alec’s front like a second skin.

“Happy birthday, Alexander,” Magnus says in his ear, and okay, he probably didn’t _mean_ for that to sound sexy, but with a voice like Magnus’s it’s kind of inevitable. Alec tries not to shiver as he pulls away, and finds himself smiling properly for the first time since Izzy invaded his place with a bunch of balloons and a truly staggering amount of alcohol.

“Thanks,” he says, looking at the soft curve of Magnus’s mouth and _wanting_ with a bone-deep familiarity born of regular repetition. He may as well be wearing a neon sign that says ‘I’m into you’ but he can’t stop looking now he’s started, and Magnus is still just smiling at him so beautifully, so it’s not like he seems to _mind-_

Then Alec hears the distinct sound of Jace starting a tequila pong tournament and immediately whirls around to try and pinpoint the shrieking and whooping noises that indicate _bad decisions_.

“Need some help corralling your wayward siblings?” Magnus yells over the music, bumping their shoulders together companionably.

“God yes,” Alec breathes.

“Lead on, Macduff,” Magnus says imperiously, and Alec lets himself smile a little wider, even as he moves towards what he’s absolutely _sure_ is a scene of alcohol-induced destruction. Still - maybe this isn’t the worst party Izzy’s ever thrown. 

➼

The night continues with Magnus absolutely obliterating Jace at tequila pong, which leads to Jace having to be put to bed by Alec and Clary in the guest room. He’s crying just a little bit, which is pretty normal for Too Much Tequila Jace, and he keeps talking about how Magnus’s eye makeup must have given him special powers.

“He’s just better than you,” Alec says with an eye roll as he forces a bottle of water on his dumb, drunk brother with a pang of fondness. “He’s a horrible cliché who probably has his picture up in a frat house somewhere, and you deserved to get your ass kicked.”

“Ooh, tell us _more_ about how _amazing_ Magnus is, Lightwood,” Clary teases as she pulls off Jace’s shoes and socks, throwing them unceremoniously to the floor. “Something about his eyes or - no, wait! Tell us again about how _eloquent_ he is, how _fashionable-”_

“I will literally just throw you out, Fray,” Alec says flatly, trying and failing not to blush. “I could pick you up with one hand and just…” He mimes yeeting her very far away from him, like a ginger shot put. She snorts and shoves him in the arm.

“Yeah, sure,” she says lightly, like she knows Alec _likes_ her now or something (which he does, and it’s extremely embarrassing). Jace is already snoring a little on the bed, face damp with tequila tears, and Alec loves these terrible people so much; how is this his _life?_

The rest of the party is thankfully uneventful. You’d probably have to torture it out of him, but Alec has to admit - if only to himself - that he has a good time. There are some pretty good moments, and nobody throws up on any of his furniture, which is as big a positive as anything else. Maia challenges every attendee to an arm-wrestling contest and literally beats everyone but Alec and Izzy (though he suspects Magnus _lets_ her win because he’s spent a lot of time staring at the man’s biceps and it just doesn’t track). Clary does some kind of 80s power ballad duet with Simon that’s astonishingly good, though Alec isn’t 100% sure how Simon managed to sneak a keyboard _and_ a guitar into his apartment without him noticing.

Then there’s Magnus’s dancing which is just… Well. Alec’s probably going to be thinking about the movement of his hips for a while, that’s all.

Eventually things wind down and Alec finds himself in the kitchen, cleaning up after everyone as usual and enjoying the change of pace. The music’s much lower now, so he can hear himself think, and it’s been switched to something he actually _enjoys_ , rather than something he usually actively avoids. He’s sorting out the recycling when he hears someone clear their throat in the kitchen doorway.

“Need some help?” Magnus asks when Alec turns around, and he doesn’t, really, but he still says, “yeah, thanks.”

They clean up together in companionable quiet - Magnus humming under his breath along with the music - and when they’re done, Magnus leans his hip against the kitchen counter and folds his arms, looking at Alec with another of those private little smiles.

“Who knew the hot librarian had it in him to throw a house party,” he muses, and Alec’s heart does something acrobatic in his chest. He tries to remember that Magnus probably flirts with everyone, that he’s not special, and that people are usually a lot nicer to you on your birthday. That’s all this is.

“Izzy forced it on me,” he says shortly, then winces. He doesn’t _try_ to be a killjoy; he just happens to be really fucking good at it. To Alec’s surprise, Magnus laughs.

“That certainly makes more sense,” he says, looking beautiful and put-together, utterly otherworldly next to the mundane wooden countertops and black and white tiles of Alec’s kitchen. He’s got a fond look on his face, and he needs to stop looking at Alec like that because it’s making his heart hurt. “One of these days I’ll convince you to take me up on a night of highly competitive Scrabble and martinis, Alexander. Much more your speed.”

“Wouldn’t take much convincing,” Alec says, a little too tired not to say exactly what’s coming into his head, “except that I probably hate martinis.” Magnus pushes off the counter and takes a step towards him.

“How do you know if you haven’t _tried_ one?” he asks softly, teasingly, and Alec’s completely lost the thread of this conversation now. Magnus is close enough to touch, eyeliner slightly smudged by time and tequila shots, face just as astonishingly, breathtakingly beautiful as Alec had found it when he’d first waltzed into the library like a maelstrom six months ago.

“Magnus, I-” Alec doesn’t know what he would have said after that, since his filter seems shot to hell, so it’s probably a good thing that Izzy pops her head around the kitchen door from the living room at that exact moment.

It’s a _good_ thing, and Alec isn’t _seriously pissed_ with her for interrupting whatever the hell had been happening here.

“Maia’s decided to go home because she just remembered she’s gotta defend her thesis tomorrow-” ‘ _just remembered?’_ Alec thinks a little hysterically- “so the couch is up for grabs if you want it, Magnus!” Then she disappears again, presumably to go and high-five Maia or make out with Simon, or whatever it is she does when she’s not meddling in Alec’s life.

Magnus sighs deeply, and Alec could _swear_ he hears him mutter something about _“reading the fucking room,”_ but a moment later Magnus is back by the counter, looking horribly composed for someone who’s so good at shaking the very foundations of Alec’s existence.

“Do you _want_ the couch?” Alec finds himself asking, suddenly desperate for Magnus not to leave; it feels like something might have started in this room and he isn’t quite ready to let go of that possibility yet. Magnus looks at him in pleased surprise and something that had been fluttering in Alec’s ribcage settles.

“Provided you have a spare toothbrush and a blanket, I would be delighted to take Maia’s place.”

“Great,” Alec says. “I’ll - yeah. I’ll get you a toothbrush and stuff.”

“So accommodating,” Magnus murmurs, and Alec tries not to read into the warmth suffusing his voice too much - even though it would be _so easy._

➼

Alec sleeps surprisingly well given that he’s probably only a one-minute wander away from Magnus, who is wearing a spare pair of Alec’s sleep pants on his couch and being horribly attractive. He’s actually surprised when he wakes up with his alarm, blinking into wakefulness in the low light of early morning with his phone vibrating insistently on the bed next to him. He showers and gets dressed, and is about to leave his bedroom when the door flies open without him even touching it.

"I got you a birthday present," Izzy says excitedly, dragging him out of the room by his hand and towards the kitchen. They pass Jace, who is passed out in the hallway in a sleeping bag for some reason; this is especially bizarre because Alec distinctly remembers putting him to bed the night before in the spare room. Also, Alec doesn't own a sleeping bag.

"You already got me a present," he protests as she pulls him into the kitchen and then onward. "It was great. Then you ruined it by making me have a party."

"Consider this an apology present then," she says brightly, and then they're entering the living room and Alec is brought up short by what he sees. Magnus is asleep on the couch, where Alec left him, covered in a patchwork bedspread that usually resides on Alec's own bed. So far, all normal.

What is _not_ normal is the fact that the bedspread is now bedecked with sprigs of mistletoe. Dozens of them.

"Great," Alec says drily, tugging his hand free and folding his arms, "a pending sexual harassment lawsuit. You shouldn't have." Izzy snorts.

“Come on, you guys want each other like Scully and Mulder,” she says haughtily, mirroring his crossed arms and raising her eyebrows. “I wasn’t sure before last night but… Alec. Seriously. _Damn._ The tension almost suffocated literally everyone here.”

“Stop talking so _loudly,_ ” he hisses, eyes darting over to where Magnus still appears to be sleeping peacefully. “Also, it’s September - you know that, right?”

“Mistletoe is timeless,” Izzy says firmly.

“It is _not-_ ”

“I’ve woken up covered in many interesting things in my time,” says a sleep-soft voice from the couch, interrupting Alec’s violent protestations, “but I’ll admit, this is new.” Alec turns slowly to look at Magnus, who is sitting up on his elbows and looking down at the plants littering his body with idle curiosity. The blanket has slipped down slightly, and Alec abruptly realises that Magnus isn’t wearing a shirt. He swallows when Magnus looks up to meet his gaze and practically _feels_ Izzy shaking with suppressed laughter next to him.

He’s going to _kill_ her.

“Izzy thinks she’s funny,” Alec says faintly, “but she isn’t. Sorry.” Magnus raises his eyebrows.

“Oh?”

“Is it truly a party unless the birthday boy gets a kiss?” Izzy says, and Alec doesn’t need to look at her to know she’s smiling smugly, like the absolute horror she is.

“Isabelle has a point, Alexander,” Magnus says mildly, and how the _fuck_ he can look so put-together and calm while saying these things, having just woken up on Alec’s couch covered in plants, is an absolute mystery. 

“She does _not_ ,” Alec says hotly. “Mistletoe is outdated and creepy - also, I can’t believe I’m having to say this again, but it’s _September.”_

“I may have only known your sister for roughly twelve hours,” Magnus says slowly, pushing himself a little further into a seated position in a way that only reveals _more_ of his torso, “but I get the feeling none of these arguments are going to be particularly successful.” Alec wishes he wasn’t right, but unfortunately, he so very much is; Izzy’s going to badger him about this until he does it, or until they get into a physical altercation. It wouldn’t be the first time.

“Fine,” Alec growls, then he moves over to the couch and leans over the back to press a kiss to Magnus’s cheek. He gets his nose instead, but it doesn’t matter because it’s _done_ and his face is on fire, but Izzy can ultimately fuck off now and leave him to die of embarrassment in peace.

Except-

“Pathetic,” Magnus says fondly, before pulling Alec bodily over the back of the couch and into an incredibly full-on, open-mouthed kiss. Alec should probably care that they both have morning breath, and there’s definitely a spiky fake leaf jabbing into his stomach, but mostly all he can think right now is _oh fuck, yes, finally_ and _oh my god._ Magnus still has one hand on Alec’s shoulder, the other gripped in his hair, and he’s kissing Alec like he’s been thinking about doing it for months. Alec kisses back with half a year’s worth of banked heat - because he _has_ been thinking about this for months - and he only finds it in himself to stop when he hears--

“Are you guys _cheering?”_ he asks incredulously, having pulled back just far enough to see that Jace, Izzy and Clary have clustered together in the living room with glasses of champagne, for some bizarre reason. “Guys, come on. It’s not even 8am.”

“I’m still drunk,” Jace says helpfully.

“I was told we were celebrating something,” Clary says with a grin, raising her glass. “Seemed appropriate.”

“Are the rest of your family members this mad, darling?” Magnus asks mildly, peering at the little group with more weary acceptance than confusion.

“Max is pretty normal,” Alec says vaguely, before glaring at Izzy. “Go away. All of you.”

“I echo that sentiment,” Magnus agrees from beneath him. Oh god - Alec is on top of Magnus, and his siblings are just _right there-_

“Now,” Alec adds, and he must look pretty desperate because they actually _go_. Izzy salutes him as they leave and Jace has started a rousing chorus of ‘for he’s a jolly good fellow’ with Clary, but Alec doesn’t care because they’re gone, and now he’s alone with Magnus, who just kissed him.

“For the record,” Magnus says as he immediately reels Alec back in, “the mistletoe was _completely_ unnecessary. I’ve been wanting to kiss you since you got into an argument with an elderly woman who tried to tell you that the LGBTQ section should be fenced off from children.”

“She was such a _bigot_ ,” Alec says hotly, and then Magnus is shutting him up with his mouth, and Alec promptly forgets what they were talking about.

He’s looking forward to playing _lots_ of Scrabble.

**Author's Note:**

> This is where I went with 'nose kissing'??? Long may the logic centres of my brain reign supreme.


End file.
